Publicity photo for Jailhouse Rock (1957)

History Hero for May 16th 2012

Elvis Presley (1935-1977)

If you’ve been reading my stuff, I most commonly keep my history heroes restricted to those who lived before the 20th century, but in the case Elvis I had to make a slight change to that rule. Elvis has always been an inspiration to me every since I was two years of age, and started bobbing up and down to Jail House Rock, whilst my mother cleaned the house.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953. Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager.

In 1954, Elvis began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges, his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.

His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

The Legendary Muskoka Spring Oddity

If there’s one big gap in Ontario’s brewing scene, it’s probably shaped like Belgium. While there are plenty of well-crafted English- and German-style beers (and even, lately, some hoppy India Pale Ales like the ones from south of the border), there aren’t many beers made in this province which are inspired by one of the world’s richest brewing cultures.

If the latest seasonal release from Muskoka Brewery is any indication, that omission is about to be remedied. This strong, golden ale has plenty of Belgian character. For one thing, it’s got a few more ingredients than the usual quartet of water, malt, hops and yeast. The brewing team at Muskoka flavour the Oddity with heather tips, orange peel and juniper berries. That kind of spiced character is a mainstay of traditional Belgian brewing. There’s also Belgian candy sugar in the brew, which helps bring up the alcohol content to a rather potent 8 percent by giving the Belgian yeast strain a little bit more sugar to nibble on.

Together, the ingredients produce a compelling brew that is unquestionably Belgian style. This strong, golden ale has a slightly sweet, fruity aroma. While there’s also a bit of fruity character and sweetness in the flavour, Oddity isn’t cloying, thanks to herbal notes contributed by the juniper, as well as a pleasantly bitter finish from the hops. The 8 per cent alcohol is reasonably, and perhaps dangerously, well hidden, but also comes out in the finish.

The Verdict: A shame it’s only once a year.

The Iron Duke Strong Ale

Wellington Brewery out of Guelph, Ontario is takes its name after the famed nineteenth century British military and political leader The Duke of Wellington, who most people know him as the man who defeated Napoleon. From the brewery itself, come some of the most authentic North American brewed English-style ales, and their Iron Duke Strong Ale is no exception. On the label, Wellington calls this their flagship beer, and in a world where the vast majority of beer that is drunk is bland and uninteresting, their ability to stand up and call a beer like this their flagship instead of their more “regular” brews is admirable. That said, in a very long run-on sentence, this is truly a great beer, and I wish it was one that they distributed in cask format. 

Iron Duke Strong Ale is a medium-brown coloured dark ale with 6.5% alcohol. It tasted like a high-quality ale, with a bit of a nutty, cidery taste to it. It was slightly bitter, but not particularly heavy, a rare thing with darker strong ales. It had a full flavour which seemed to grow slightly more bitter the more of it we drank. Although it is a strong ale, the extra alcohol couldn’t be easily tasted, although the bitterness no doubt helped with this.

The Verdict: Wellington County’s Iron Duke is good high-quality strong beer, and after a few pints of it you’d feel like you could kick Napoleon’s arse too.

Formally completed my first year of University, and to add a cherry on top, my professor appreciated my essay, Napoleon and Wellington: Heroes of 19th century Europe, so much he gave me a ninety-eight percent. 

(via fuckyeahmercury)

So I came home from University to find my parent so distraught with ‘empty nest syndrome’, my sister was on an exchange in France, that they had brought a puppy. Something I thought my father wouldn’t do in a million years. So here is my brand new family member, a long haired miniature brindle dachshund. My mother has named him Darcy after Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Lemuel Francis Abbott’s ‘Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson’ (1800)

History Hero for April 18^th 2012

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Nelson was born at the Rectory of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, East England, UK, the son of the village rector Edmund Nelson and his wife Catherine. He attended schools at Norwich and North Walsham before entering the Royal Navy at Chatham in 1770. Under the patronage of an uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, his naval experience widened rapidly; first by his attachment to a Caribbean-bound merchant ship, and in 1773 by an arduous expedition to the Arctic. A voyage to India followed, but he had to be invalided home after a near fatal malarial fever which left him with recurrent partial paralysis for the rest of his life, in addition to his incurable sea-sickness.

In 1779 at the age of 20, he became captain of a frigate ship in the West Indies, and during the American War served under Admiral Robert Digby and later Lord Samuel Hood. In 1784 he returned to the West Indies to enforce the Navigation Acts prohibiting direct trade between the new American States and the remaining British colonies. His rigid and direct enforcement of the law soon brought him into conflict with the traders, his commander-in-chief, and the Governor of the Leeward Is. However, their attempts to have Nelson removed or court-martialled rebounded on them following his successful petitions to the Admiralty and King George III.

While on the island of Nevis, Nelson met and, in 1787, married Frances (Fanny) Nisbet (1761-1831), a widow with a son, Josiah. Returning to England, he found himself out of favour both with the Admiralty, which was embarrassed by his zealous execution of duty in the West Indies, and with George III for associating with his disreputable son, Prince William Henry. He was refused another ship, but five years later was recalled at the outbreak of the Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) with France. In 1794 he was given the task of securing Corsica as a Mediterranean base for the Royal Navy. While in Naples gathering recruits, he met William Harrison who, in his capacity as British minister, helped Nelson. The campaign was a major success but, during the attack on Calvi, he was blinded in the right eye by stone splinters from a parapet struck by an enemy shell. Despite his injury, he returned to duty the following day.

On leaving the Mediterranean, the British fleet encountered a Spanish fleet off Cape St Vincent, and inflicted a decisive defeat (1797). Much of the credit for the success of the heavily outgunned British fleet was due to Nelson’s bold and unorthodox tactics, for which he received a knighthood. Later promoted to rear-admiral, he held the blockade of Cadiz before being detached to Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands. His ill-founded mission to capture rumoured Spanish treasure ships failed when all element of surprise was lost. His right arm was shattered by grapeshot, and had to be amputated.

In 1798 he was sent on a reconnaissance mission to locate the French fleet. It was eventually found in Abu Qir (Aboukir) Bay near Alexandria, where he executed a daring attack as night fell. The British fleet inflicted a massive defeat (the Battle of the Nile), leaving Napoleon’s army stranded in Egypt. Nelson, who had again been wounded, returned to Naples, there to be nursed by Emma, the wife of Sir William Hamilton. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Nelson of the Nile, and appointed principal military adviser to the Court of Ferdinand IV, King of the Two Sicilies. This period was marked by controversy. His advice to send an army to recapture Rome from the French resulted in a humiliating defeat, while his public affair with Lady Hamilton exposed him to criticism. In 1800 he relinquished his command because of ill health, and escorted the Hamiltons overland to England.

Following his return, estrangement from his wife soon resulted in separation. With Emma pregnant with their daughter Horatia, and faced with difficult financial circumstances, he applied for active service. In 1801 he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed second-in-command to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in an expedition to break the ‘armed neutrality’ of the Baltic States. The fleet sailed for Denmark and, despite the irresolute Parker, engaged the Danish fleet at anchor off Copenhagen. During the course of battle, which inflicted heavy losses on both sides, Nelson ignored Parker’s signal to disengage from the fighting by putting his telescope up to his blind eye and claiming that he had seen no such signal. An hour later the battle was won. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the fleet following Parker’s recall, and elevated to viscount.

Renewed hostilities with France saw his return to active service as commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean fleet on board the flagship HMS Victory. In this capacity, his questionable tactics in enforcing a loose blockade of the French-held ports, encouraging the enemy to leave the port and fight, allowed a French fleet under Admiral Villeneuve to escape from Toulon (Jan 1805). A futile chase ensued across the Atlantic to the West Indies and back. This was part of Napoleon’s plan to decoy the Royal Navy from the Channel in order to allow him to invade England unmolested. However, Napoleon’s combined Spanish and French fleet sweeping through the channel to cover for the invasion was devastated by Nelson’s eventual engagement of Villeneuve’s fleet off Cape Trafalgar (21 Oct 1805). At the height of the battle, and with victory in sight, Nelson was mortally wounded as he paced the quarter-deck with Captain Hardy; he died some three hours later as the battle ended, and his body was brought back to England.He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, and a column erected to his memory in Trafalgar Square. Despite the adulation he received after his death, Emma was ignored, and died in abject poverty in Calais nine years later. Horatia, however, returned to Norfolk, and married a clergyman.

Game of Thrones

Like a great many others, I’d never even heard of George RR Martin’s epic A Song Of Ice And Fire series of fantasy books until a few weeks ago. All I knew of the TV version was that it was a fantasy drama, it stars Sean Bean and it was from HBO. I should point out that I’m not in thrall to that channel: often its output ends up overhyped so that perfectly enjoyable shows like Boardwalk Empire are criticised for merely being very good and not mindblowing. Thus I approached it with middling expectations; six hours later I was completely hooked.

I have never read the books and now I want to. There is so much crap on TV that is renewed year after year (CSI, Greys Anatomy, Glee etc.) which uses cheap gags, pointless and sometimes ridiculous plots, unbelievable and many times one dimensional characters. There is enough brain-dead television. But once in a while a show comes along that transports you to another world and makes you believe in the magic of television again. Game of Thrones is one such show.

It is complex, multi-layered, surreal, vibrant, imaginative and it draws your eye in to the surprising level of detail, from the sweeping vistas, to the narrow dungeons, from the beautiful castles and magnificent trees, to the contrasting landscapes. It is worth watching just for the scenery alone. The scripting is intelligent and well delivered by competent acting, led by Sean Bean perfectly cast as Lord Edard. Although Sean Bean is better known for brooding bad guys, he strikes the perfect balance between father, husband and Lord and soldier. He is well supported by other well known actors and many new to the scene.

The high density of the pilot may be the reason some of the early reviews were a little lukewarm, but Game of Thrones gets better and better with each episode. I suppose it’s somehow fitting that a show about iron-age people would draw out critics with an axe to grind, but it would be a shame if the fantasy setting put people off. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s all sword and very little sorcery. It’s been called fantasy for people who don’t like fantasy, but Mark Addy who plays King Robert Baratheon, put it better: “It’s fantasy about people who don’t believe in fantasy.” Besides, to us in Barrie, Canada, aren’t the mean streets of Baltimore in The Wire just as much a fantastical place? I’d go as far as to say the show is a triumph; it’d be a shame to miss out on it due to a deficiency in imagination.

Henry Singleton, ‘The Last Effort and Fall of Tippoo Sultaun’ (1800)

The Siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799)

It was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seeingpatam and storming the citadel. Tippu Sultan, Mysore’s ruler, was killed in the action. The British restored the Wodeyar dynasty to the throne after the victory, but retained indirect control of the kingdom.

The battle consisted of a series of encounters around Seringapatam (the anglicized version of Sriangaptnam in the months of April and May 1799, between the combined forces of the British East India Company and their allies, numbering over 50,000 soldiers in all, and the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mysore, ruled by Tippu Sultan, numbering up to 30,000. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore Warcame to an end with the defeat and death of Tippu Sultan in the battle.

When the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War broke out, the British assembled two large columns under General George Harris. The first consisted of over 26,000 British East India Company troops, 4,000 of whom were European while the rest were local Indian sepoys. The second column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad, and consisted of ten battalions and over 16,000 cavalry. Together, the allied force numbered over 50,000 soldiers. Tippu’s forces had been depleted by the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the consequent loss of half his kingdom, but he still probably had up to 30,000 soldiers.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s ‘Head of Jesus’ (c. 1648-1656)

History Hero for April 12th 2012

Jesus of Nazareth (circa 2 BCE- 31 AD)

By order of Caesar Augustus, a census was taken of the entire Roman world. A man named Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary traveled to the town of Bethlehem (which is known as the town of David) because Joseph belonged to the blood line of David. While they were there, Mary gave birth to a baby boy who she placed in a manger because of a lack of room at the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)The baby, Jesus, had been born to a virgin and was to be the fulfillment of a prophecy that called for a messiah to come and be the king of the Jews who would reign forever. (Luke 1:29-37)

Very little is recorded about Jesus’ upbringing except that he was wise enough to amaze the temple teachers when he was twelve. (Luke 2:42-47) It was not until much later, fifteen years into the reign of Emperor Tiberius (Luke 3:1) that Jesus began his ministry. After being baptized by his cousin John (Luke 3:21) who had preached his coming (Luke 3:4), Jesus fasted for forty days in preparation for his ministry, in which he was tempted by Satan (Luke 4:1-13).

Though Jesus was not accepted as a prophet in his hometown, as many prophets are not (Luke 4:14-30), he gained fame as he healed many people and casts out demons from others (Luke 4:31-41). Jesus’ preachings coincided with his miracles, and he taught the importance of the human heart rather than strict adherence to law, which he demonstrated in doing work on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-11). He chose many disciples and specifically twelve apostles to help him in his ministry (Luke 6:12-16).

Throughout his life Jesus performed many miracles and taught many lessons. Many people feared Jesus for his teachings or felt that he was blaspheming and wished to kill him (Luke 4:28-30; 6:11; 22:4-6). Jesus knew that his ministry would end in his death as that was according to the prophecy that he was fulfilling (Luke 18:31-33) . During the week of Passover, the chief priests had him crucified under the order of Pontius Pilate (Luke 22:47-23:46). According to scripture, three days after his death, Jesus rose from the dead (Luke 24:6). He then proceeded to oversee the birth of his new religion while preparing the apostles to take over for him (Luke 24:36-49) . He then is said to have ascended to heaven (Luke 24:51).

Cameron’s Auburn Ale

As my beer list keeps getting longer, I find the best way to gain tasting experience is through trying some locally brewed craft beers. This weekend my father and I brought a tasting pack from Cameron’s Brewing Company which is located in Oakville Ontario. My favorite out of the pack is the Auburn Ale, Cameron’s most awarded beer. 

It doesn’t have the hoppiness of an English bitter or India pale ale, and it’s not as malty as, say, a German-style dark lager. No, it’s not stunningly complex. But it’s still got enough floral hops aroma and roasted malt flavour to keep things interesting.

In other words, it’s not a bad “session” beer, which is a polite beer-world term for saying you could knock back a few over a lengthy evening. Completely coincidentally, of course, the brewery sells these in cases of nine rather than the standard six. Overall this beer is not special by any means but if you live in Ontario it’s a pretty good beer to have.